Sutra is translated into Chinese as 经, or 經 in traditional writing. The radical 糸 comes from the picture of a spool of thread, hence “silk” and “thread”, the 巠 is both phonetic and radical here, which means the vertical threads on a weaving loop. So a Jing is indeed the book to regulate or coordinate or braid the ideas or teachings together into a scripture or treatise.
Tea could be one of the sutras for Chinese history and literature. Wine could be another intriguing thread, sometimes astringent, sometimes mellow, sometimes vigorous. Many a time the threads of tea, wine and poetry are intertwined that you wonder whether they were heaven trio.
Tao Yuming (365–427) is arguably the first and the most influential pre-Tang Chinese poet. Born into notable family with a general grandfather but declined to poverty when he was still young, Tao served in minor posts for the corrupted and fatuous court. By declaring “I refused to bow like a servant in return for five bushels of grain”, he chose dignity instead of compromise and corruption and retreated into solitude, only with poems, wines and chrysanthemums around.
Drinking Wine
Tao Yuanming
Translated by Dongbo
My home’s built on a busy street,
But no jarring racket penetrates my ears.
You ask,”How can this be?”
When my mind is elsewhere, the place is rustic.
Plucking chrysanthemums for tea by the east hedge,
I gaze at distant South Mountain.
Mountain mists bonny, early or late,
Darting birds flit, back and forth.
In all this there is true meaning,
I’d like to explain but have lost the words..
饮酒·其五
结庐在人境，而无车马喧。
问君何能尔？心远地自偏。
采菊东篱下，悠然见南山。
山气日夕佳，飞鸟相与还。
此中有真意，欲辨已忘言。
Li Qingzhao (1084–c. 1151) is doubtlessly the premier woman poet. Grown up in a family of officials and scholars and Su Dongpo as close friend of her father, she married Zhao Mingcheng the art collector and epigraphist of the time. The couple shared poetry, bronze collection, tea contesting and wine drinking till Jurchens took over the northern capital and Zhao died shortly after. Li lived in sorrow ever after with the finest memory of the carefree days: “I would have been glad to grow old in such a world”.
Partridge Sky
Li Qingzhao
Translated by Wang Jiansheng
Wintry day whistles through the window shut tight.
The wutong should dread the onset of evening frost.
The wine’s finished, pleasant the bitter taste of tea.
A broken dream favors the smell of the incense.
Autumn is over
But the day still seems long.
Zhongxuan pined for home; I too am lonely.
Why not accept our portion, and be drunk before the cup?
We mustn’t fail the yellow chrysanthemums at the eastern hedge.
《鹧鸪天》
李清照
寒日萧萧上锁窗，梧桐应恨夜来霜。
酒阑更喜团茶苦，梦断偏宜瑞脑香。
秋已尽，日犹长，仲宜怀远更凄凉。
不如随分尊前醉，莫负东篱菊蕊黄。
Nalan Xingde (1655-1685) came from a Manchu of aristocratic family with proficient skill of riding and archery, but he preferred composing and verses, revived the Ci genre and became the most significant Ci poem post Song dynasty. He was closely associated with the emperor, traveled with Kangxi to distant parts of the empire. As an admirer of Li Qingzhao, Nalan wrote several poems in memoir of his wife who died in childbirth, his own life ended when he was 31.
Sand of Silk-Washing Brook
In Memoriam
Nalan Xingde
Translated by Wang Jiansheng
Who else will care for me
Alone in the chill west wind,
Now that my idle window is shut
Amid the dreariness of yellow leaves?
Under the declining sun’s gaze
I stand deep in thought
Of happy times gone by
Worry not when your sweet wine-intoxicated self
Is overwhelmed with heavy spring slumber!
Book-guessing games with splashing of fragrant tea
Will suffice to beguile the waking hours-
Things I then thought to be nothing out of the ordinary.
浣溪沙·谁念西风
纳兰性德
谁念西风独自凉，萧萧黄叶闭疏窗，
沉思往事立残阳。被酒莫惊春睡重，
赌书消得泼茶香，当时只道是寻常。
In all this there is true meaning, I’d like to explain but have lost the words…
Recent Comments